Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

Coming off a loss on the road last week, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) football team will host third-ranked UW-Whitewater (5-0, 2-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, in its Homecoming Game at Community Stadium at Goerke Field.

The Pointers (2-3, 1-1) fell behind UW-Oshkosh (4-1, 2-0) 17-0 in the second quarter Saturday, Oct. 12, and were unable to come all the way back in the second half, as they lost 20-7 at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh.

Coming off a 30-16 win at home over UW-River Falls (1-4, 0-2) in its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener Oct. 5, UWSP traveled to play Oshkosh Saturday, Oct. 12.

The game remained tied at 0-0 entering the second quarter, when Oshkosh scored on a 43-yard touchdown pass with 13:42 to play in the quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

Oshkosh blocked a punt on the next possession to take over at the UWSP 10-yard line and set up a 25-yard field goal with 10:17 left in the second quarter to increase its lead to 10-0, and then intercepted a pass from UWSP senior quarterback Matt Urmanski and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown to go up 17-0 with 5:43 remaining in the second quarter.

Oshkosh kicked a 23-yard field goal with 9:24 to play in the third quarter to build a 20-0 lead, while junior running back ShamaJ Williams had a two-yard touchdown run with 6:00 left in the third quarter to pull the Pointers within 20-7 following the extra-point kick from sophomore Victor Ponterio.

In the fourth quarter, UWSP drove to the Oshkosh 34-yard line before it turned the ball over on downs with 5:34 to play, and then reached the Oshkosh 43-yard line, before it turned the ball over on downs with 2:34 remaining, and Oshkosh held on for a 20-7 win.

Urmanski completed 24-of-47 passes for 251 yards, with zero touchdowns and two interceptions, senior wide receiver Jonte Webb caught four passes for 87 yards, and Williams rushed for 58 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries to lead UWSP, which ended up with 303 yards of total offense.

Sophomore defensive lineman Berkley Corvino finished with 12 tackles and four tackles for loss, junior linebacker Kameron Kryzanski had 10 tackles, and junior linebacker Collin Hawkins and senior defensive lineman Logan Strang each added six tackles to lead the Pointers’ defense, which held Oshkosh to 96 yards passing and 230 yards of total offense.

UWSP will be home Saturday to take on Whitewater, which won the WIAC last season and advanced to the NCAA Division III National Semifinals, where it fell 31-14 at eventual National Champion Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) to finish 13-1.

Whitewater opened WIAC play this season with a 24-14 win at home over UW-Eau Claire (3-2, 1-1) Oct. 5, then won 21-14 at home over 18th-ranked UW-Platteville (4-1, 1-1) last Saturday, when it used a 10-yard touchdown run with 11:03 left in the fourth quarter to break a 14-14 tie and remain unbeaten.